NPOESS Userport

Creating Meteorological Products from Satellite Data
Time:  1 hour

This module presents an overview of how satellite data are turned into the satellite products used by operational forecasters and the research and educational communities, etc. The module begins by describing the process of creating simple image products that use relatively simple image manipulation techniques to highlight properties such as wind-blown dust, vegetation, and cloud phase. The module then describes some of the more complex processes involved in generating quantitative products, such as cloud identification, atmospheric instability, wildfire characterization, and sea surface temperature. Finally, the module introduces advanced products that use the thousands of channels on hyperspectral instruments to derive a variety of geophysical parameters related to the characterization of aerosols, trace gases, cloud microphysics, and atmospheric profiling, etc. The discussion of quantitative products uses the example of the Meteosat cloud mask, which indicates whether a pixel in a satellite image is clear or cloudy. Cloud mask products are important to all environmental satellites in that they form the basis for many other derived products.

Microwave Remote Sensing: Land and Ocean Surface Applications
Time:  2 hours

This module introduces the concepts and principles basic to retrieving important land and ocean surface properties using microwave remote sensing observations from polar-orbiting satellites. Section one reviews the advantages of microwave remote sensing from polar-orbiting platforms and briefly highlights some of the unique spectral characteristics that allow for differentiation between various surface types and properties. Subsequent sections present a more in-depth look at the derivation and application of microwave products that quantify four different land and ocean surface properties and their characteristics, including snow cover and water equivalent, sea ice, surface wetness and soil moisture, and sea surface temperature. The module reviews both past and current satellite missions and also discusses the future NPOESS constellation that is expected to include a passive microwave sensing capability beginning with the second NPOESS satellite.

Multispectral Satellite Applications: Monitoring the Wildland Fire Cycle
Time:  1.5 to 2 hours

This module describes current and future satellite instruments and products used for monitoring the fire cycle, with an emphasis on polar-orbiting satellites. Product information is presented in the context of the fire cycle: from assessing the pre- and post-fire environment to detecting and monitoring active fires, smoke, and aerosols. Product information is also consolidated in the Fire Product Suite, available in the module and as a PDF file. The module concludes with an interactive fire case study, supplemented with observations from a National Weather Service forecaster who experienced the fire. The module is intended for a wide range of users involved with wildfire detection and monitoring, including land use managers, hydrologists, weather forecasters, and researchers.

Microwave Remote Sensing: Microwave Resources
Time:  1 hour

This resource collection provides background information on microwave remote sensing with polar-orbiting satellites. It reviews coverage, orbits, and data latency issues of current operational and selected research satellites, also noting improvements expected with future NPP and NPOESS satellites. The collection contrasts active vs. passive remote sensing, advantages and limitations of different microwave instrument scanning strategies, and satellite viewing geometry. The module also offers a review of the microwave spectrum and the special characteristics of microwave energy for creating satellite imagery and derived products.

The SPoRT Center - Infusing NASA Technology into NWS WFOs Webcast
Time:  1 hour

This Webcast introduces the SPoRT Center, a joint NASA and National Weather Service project to provide unique NASA datasets to several forecast offices and evaluate their usefulness and impact on forecast operations. The presentation provides a description of the SPoRT Center, examples of its collaborations with weather forecast offices, and demonstrates use of MODIS data, AMSR-E derived products and lightning flash density product applications. It also includes mention of projects the SPoRT Center will likely undertake in the future, such as activities that prepare NWS forecast offices for delivery and utilization of future NPOESS satellite data.

Microwave Remote Sensing: Clouds, Precipitation, and Water Vapor Module
Time:  1 hour

This module provides an introduction to microwave products that depict moisture in the atmosphere and precipitation rates. It begins with an explanation of total precipitable water (TPW) and cloud liquid water (CLW) and contrasts them with infrared water vapor imagery. Then a series of case examples are presented, highlighting the contributions TPW and microwave precipitation rate imagery make to accurate forecasting of weather systems. The module ends with an introduction to the Global Precipitation Monitoring Mission.

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